Recording Snapshots on the Fly
When you click the Edit Mode Start button in the Widget Inspector or Rig Inspector,
Motion records parameter changes you make (including parameters you animate). A
window appears containing a Stop Rig Edit Mode button.
While Rig Edit Mode is active, you can modify parameters in your project. The parameter
changes you make are stored in the current snapshot. (Other snapshots in the rig are
unaffected.)
After you stop Rig Edit Mode, any parameter you modified (in the Canvas, or in the HUD
or Inspector) is added to the Widget Inspector, and its state is saved in the snapshot.
Note: Only one snapshot can be modified per edit mode session. To edit more than one
snapshot, end the editing session, select another snapshot (by clicking another snapshot
tag for a slider, by choosing a new menu item for a pop-up menu, or by changing the
state of a checkbox), then start a new edit mode session.
Parameters affected by a rig display a joystick icon on the right side of the parameter
row.
Indicates parameter is
controlled by a rig.
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Any parameter controlled by a rig is added to the Widget Inspector, below the Edit Mode:
Start button and above the Options parameters.
After you click the Stop Rig Edit Mode button, no additional parameters are added to the
widget.
To cancel the recording of the snapshot, click the close button on the Stop Rig Edit Mode
window. When you stop recording, changes made to parameters are saved, but no new
parameters are added to the widget.
Note: Each parameter can be controlled by only one widget. After a parameter is assigned
to a widget, you cannot assign that parameter to additional widgets.
You can add parameters to a widget after a snapshot is created by clicking the Start Rig
Edit Mode button again and making changes to new parameters, or by manually adding
parameters to the widget. See
Controlling Rigs from Parameter Animation Menus
.
Important:
After a parameter is added to a widget, changes made to that parameter
change the selected snapshot even if Rig Edit Mode is stopped, and even if the Widget
Inspector is not visible.
To record a snapshot on the fly
1
Add a rig to the project by pressing Command-Control-R.
The rig appears in the Layers list.
2
In the Rig Inspector, click the Add Pop-up button (or whichever widget type you prefer).
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A pop-up widget appears in the Layers list (under the rig), and pop-up widget controls
appear in the Rig Inspector.
A Widget Inspector is added to the project (containing the same pop-up widget controls
that appear in the Rig Inspector). To access the Widget Inspector, click the pop-up widget
object in the Layers list.
3
In the Rig Inspector or the Widget inspector, choose an item from the pop-up menu.
By default, a new pop-up menu widget contains three items: Snapshot 1, Snapshot 2,
and Snapshot 3. You can rename them using the Rename button.
4
In the Rig inspector or the Widget inspector, click the Edit Mode: Start button.
A window appears containing a Stop Rig Edit Mode button. The appearance of this
window indicates that you are in Rig Edit Mode.
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5
Make changes to the objects in your project in the Canvas, the HUD, or the Inspector,
creating the snapshot for the active menu item in the pop-up widget.
6
After you set the parameters to the wanted snapshot state, click the Stop Rig Edit Mode
button.
The snapshot is stored. Modified parameters are added to the Widget Inspector.
Parameters added
to Widget inspector
7
To set additional snapshots, repeat steps 3 through 6.